Cooking Leveling Guide

Overview

Cooking is a secondary profession: it takes none of your two primary slots, so every character should have it. Most dishes ask for one piece of meat or one fish, often with a vendor spice, and you collect those ingredients simply by leveling or fishing.

• Worth it while leveling: in Forever cooked food also grants a Well Fed bonus that raises experience from kills by 5% for 15 minutes.
• Fish is the easy road: fish recipes need a single ingredient, and vendors or Fishing supply it. The tables below also list meat options for whatever fills your bags.
• Vendor goods: Mild Spices, Hot Spices, Soothing Spices and Refreshing Spring Water are sold by Cooking Supply vendors beside the trainers. Do not buy them at auction.
• Train early: learn Journeyman at 50, before the 50-150 block. Without it you stop at 75 while the ingredients keep burning.

Campfires

You need a fire to cook; there is usually one next to the trainer. In Forever the fire is an item: the Basic Campfire Kit is learned together with Cooking and placed from your bags, so prepare a stack in town. Crafting a kit takes Simple Wood and a Flint and Tinder (the tool is not needed to place the fire), both sold near the trainers.

Other professions add their own items to your fire; see Campfire Buffs.

Trainers

Every trainer teaches Apprentice and Journeyman (Cooking 50). Expert comes from a book and Artisan from a quest, both described in their sections.

Capital cities

Starting zones

Expert Cookbook (Cooking 125)

The book can be traded, so a low-level character can also buy it on the Auction House.

Apprentice (1-50)

Cook about 55 portions of one of these. All of them turn yellow at 45.

Journeyman (50-150)

Journeyman requires Cooking 50. In each bracket, cook the quantity shown of one recipe.

50-100 (about 55 portions)

These turn yellow at 90, except Smoked Bear Meat which does at 80: make more of it, or cook it first.

100-130 (30 to 40 portions)

The catfish is the simplest choice because it stays orange until 140 and remains useful up to 175: buy around 120 Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish if you plan to stay on it.

130-150 (20 to 25 portions)

Expert (150-225)

Read the Expert Cookbook first (Cooking 125).

150-175

175-225 (about 50 portions)

All three turn yellow at 215: keep a reserve for the last ten points.

Artisan (225-300)

Artisan is the reward of the quest Clamlette Surprise, available at Cooking 225 and level 35.

1. Optional lead-in: To Gadgetzan You Go! from Zamja in Orgrimmar (Horde) or I Know A Guy... from Daryl Riknussun in Ironforge (Alliance).
2. Collect everything before travelling: 12 Giant Egg (rocs around Gadgetzan drop them), 10 Zesty Clam Meat (from Big-mouth Clams, for instance off the snappers on the Tanaris coast) and 20 Alterac Swiss (innkeepers and food vendors).
3. Hand the lot to Dirge Quikcleave in Gadgetzan. Before leaving Tanaris, buy every recipe Gikkix sells in Steamwheedle Port.

225-275 (about 65 portions)

Yellow from 265. These can be pushed to 285 when the ingredient is cheap.

275-300 (about 35 portions)

Yellow from 290.

From 285: Smoked Desert Dumplings

One Sandworm Meat and one Soothing Spices per portion, about 15 portions. The recipe is earned through the Silithus quests Desert Recipe and Sharing the Knowledge, and the meat drops from Dredge Strikers and Dredge Crushers in the same zone.